Forward-looking companies can add to their knowledge base by integrating company-wide learning initiatives in their HR agendas. The corporate mantra is to achieve ongoing professional development that effectively translates into breakthrough performance and sustained success.
Rising to the challenge
Corporate education and training have become business imperatives. As management writer Reeti Kalia accentuates, `Learning is no longer a business privilege or an altruistic measure but a must-have.' Altering the innate perceptions of executives is imperative. So leaders should undergo psychological and behavioural transformation at their own level. Learning has to be linked for a robust bottom line and then employee attitude towards learning modified gradually.
Raising the bar
Enhancing an organisation's learning quotient calls for a holistic approach towards knowledge management. Employees have the fundamental capacity to learn and are hungry for knowledge. A push in the right direction can enhance their potential. Companies should cash in on this insatiable desire and capacity to learn. This will indeed drive a learning culture.
Here's a three-tier basic structure to guide a comprehensive learning initiative:
Know: HR executives should identify learning needs across the organisation and institute programmes accordingly. Then, they would have to design learning events and processes to convert employee talent into competence and performance. Such corporate education should encompass technical, managerial and humanistic knowledge. Some favoured techniques for upgrading the knowledge base are -
- Changes in roles, responsibilities and projects
- Practical training courses, seminars and conferences
- On-line or classroom education
- Educational assistance and sabbaticals
- Formal mentoring programmes
- On-the-job interactive sessions with experienced employees, managers etc.
Thereby, organisations can hone their skills and build their competencies. Growth opportunities will follow automatically. However, managers should exercise caution as new knowledge not only calls for learning but also the capacity to unlearn and relearn. They have to let go of tried-and-tested ways and refine their attitude to meet transformational roles in changing scenarios.
Innovate: Jack Welch, CEO of GE opines, `Employers should create an environment that pushes towards a search for a better way to do everything we do'. Employees should be encouraged to generate ideas and solutions for key organisational issues. A supportive institutional climate for conceptualising change and boosting creativity will take learning to higher levels. Organisations that develop new knowledge and competencies will have a definite competitive edge and path-breaking performance.
Share: HR executives should emphasise the need to share knowledge and experiences. Assisting employees in overcoming prejudices will facilitate proactive, continuous and consistent knowledge sharing across organisational levels. Also, management should draw upon employee insights and effectively utilise them.
Setting exalted precedents
Progressive companies are integrating collaborative learning and knowledge management into everyday work to fortify their success. IBM has inculcated an innovative and structured approach with focus on people to develop knowledge. IBM's `Total Learning Experience' programme incorporates various approaches like - work-embedded, on-demand, prescriptive and recreational learning. Corporate giant GE spends more than USD1 billion on its knowledge sharing and learning initiatives. Even at British Petroleum, peer processes drive the learning programmes. It leverages customer preferences, technology and business methods to deliver unparalleled business knowledge development and sharing.
The power of learning
Learning initiatives lead to the highest level of competency as employees get equipped to perform optimally in the face of adversity. Leadership development and responsiveness to change follows thereby increasing the value of the workforce. This apart, it will also beat the impending skills and labour shortage by nurturing a pool of talented employees that are empowered to attain goals. Receptiveness to growth helps attract and retain top talent. Also, today's workforce is more enlightened and expects employers to provide professional development with learning plans that could build their knowledge base.
The call is for companies to invest in augmenting employee IQ. It's a sure shot approach to boost business!
PAYAL CHANANIA
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